The rise in projects is an indicator of a "strong sign of growth," he added in a lecture organized by Kuwait Economic Society (KES) on "the impact of 2014-15 State procurement on Kuwaiti financial sector."

He noted that the aggregate value of projects awarded during 2014 and 2015 was KD 18 billion. He said the decline in oil prices has not affected significantly the projects' landscape in Kuwait, indicating that big spending of government has not so far impacted positively main economic fields.

Real estate sector is the most dominant segment for projects in Kuwait as it has some 154 projects with a value of KD 37 billion, while 50 percent of projects signed in 2015 belong to the oil and gas sector, he stated.

He said there were 420 ongoing projects in Kuwait in the first quarter of 2016, 19 of them valued at KD 34 billion (USD 112.2 billion) were placed on hold and another 20 projects estimated at KD seven billion were shelved.

Most ongoing projects are in the early stages of execution, and projects of oil, gas, power and water sectors accounted for 74 percent of projects completed (by value) between 2012 and 2015, he mentioned.

Raghu stressed that the awarding of projects is yet o create any impact on capital markets and had a marginal impact in banks' credit growth. The Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) would award public-private partnership (PPP) projects worth KD two billion in 2016, he expected.